One Way Ticket To California
by Gitana
Summary: Rory goes to Luke’s to talk to Jess after his fight with Dean.


**One Way Ticket To California**

**By**: Gitana  
**Characters**: Jess and Roy  
**Disclaimer**: Everything belongs to Amy Sherman-Palladino and Warner Brothers.  
**Timeline/Spoilers**: Season 3, 3.19 "Keg! Max!" / Spoilers for 3.19 and 3.22 "Those Are Strings, Pinocchio"  
**Rating**: PG  
**Summary/Note**: Rory goes to Luke's to talk to Jess after his fight with Dean. / Not a song fic, but it was inspired by the lyrics of O Town's "All or Nothing." Yes, I know, I know, but the lyrics fit.

* * *

"Figures." Jess spits out as he shoots by Rory and Dean down the stairs. She's crying and he's asking her what happened. _Where the hell is his girlfriend, anyway? _Jess thinks.

Home alone, Jess takes care of the nasty shiner under his right eye. "That jerk!" He thinks while pressing on his face with a rag full of ice. He's always felt it, he's always known it. Being with Rory was nice, but there was a ghost between them, always in the middle of every date, every conversation, every kiss. Always there, lurking behind Rory's silent stares and sometimes even in her smiles.

At first he thought she simply felt guilty about what happened. Rory wasn't used to dumping people, but the days went by and it was less guilt, more reverie. _No use getting jealous,_ he thought at first. _I already won._

He's lost count on how many "I'm not Dean" comments he's had to make to Rory, to Lorelai and even to Luke. They don't seem to get it. He's different. That's why Rory is with him now, so what's the problem?

There's a knock on the door. He doesn't answer but Rory opens the door and comes inside anyway.

"Where's your boyfriend?" Jess asks without turning his head. He keeps pressing the ice on his face until it burns.

"I'm looking at him." Rory wasn't crying but it was obvious she had been a mess for a few hours.

"Are you really, Rory?" Jess turned around and put the rag on the bed. Rory walked toward him and reached up to touch his bruised face.

"I'm sorry." She didn't think she had to apologize for anything that led to his black eye and bloody lip, but she was sorry he was hurt.

"He's always in the way, Rory. I can't keep pretending that Dean-"

"This isn't about Dean, this is about us."

"You're wrong. It's always about him with us."

"And that's my fault? You're always the one who brings him up. I came here to settle things between us, because what happened tonight," Rory looked for the words, "can't _ever_ happen again."

Jess knew he had made a terrible mistake.

"So that's it? Every time I make a mistake you run to Dean? That it?"

Rory wonders if he knows. Is it that obvious that she compares him to Dean in her head? Maybe she's been careless to show that she struggles because he doesn't call, doesn't show up, doesn't smile when they're alone. Had he overheard her talking to Lorelai? Was she still in love with Dean? Maybe Jess is not the problem, maybe it's her. Maybe she hasn't been fair to Jess like she thought.

"This is useless!" Rory yelled. "Forget Dean already! I'm here with you, right now, and you're talking about him. What about _me_, Jess? What about what you did?"

"Do you even love me, Rory?"

Silence. Nerves. Shifting from foot to foot.

"I don't know. I was starting to, now I don't know."

"Nice."

"That's not fair. I have put my butt on the line for you, I've always given you a chance to explain, to be yourself, to not have to hide or run away. I've always been here for you, Jess. I am now."

He knows she's always been there for him.

"I know."

"Then why won't you talk to me?"

"We have very different lives, Rory."

"Explain it to me."

"I can't."

Rory nodded her head.

"Well, then I can't help you."

She turns around to leave. He doesn't move to stop her.

"Just tell me this, Rory… I always wondered and I'm finally going to ask you… If Dean hadn't broken up with you first, would you have broken up with him? Would you have left him for me? For us?"

Silence. Nerves. Shifting from foot to foot.

"Would you have wanted me the same if I hadn't been with him when we met?"

"Wow! You're going to make America proud one day, Congresswoman Gilmore."

"I never thought we'd be here having this conversation." Rory is calm now. "For what it's worth, I was excited about everything with you. After I went to New York, I thought it was always going to be like that."

"Disappointment is a part of life, Rory. You and your perfect life, your perfect boyfriend, perfect school, perfect grades, perfect dreams make no sense to me. If I disappoint you it's because I'm real. I don't eat apple pie for dinner."

Rory smiled.

"I always thought Princess Diana had a perfect life. A beautiful wedding to a future king, a beautiful face, a beautiful castle, the whole world was in love with her... I'm no less real than you because I want a better relationship. Making out all the time is fine, but I want more. I'm not Shane."

"I'm not Dean."

Rory bit her lip in frustration, she walked right into that one and she regrets the discussion is once again derailed.

"You're right about that."

Rory mumbled as she walked out unsure if Jess had heard her or not.

-

Rory's still in her gap and gown when she answers the phone.

"Hello? Hello?" She hears breathing on the other side. _Jess._ "I know it's you, Jess."

Jess doesn't know where to start. He keeps listening in silence as Rory officially breaks up with him. He's in California.

"Goodbye, Jess." Rory says, inhaling courage and oxygen at the same time. She punches the red button to finish the call. She waits a few seconds but he doesn't call back. It's over. She looks for Lorelai and gives her a strange smile Lorelai doesn't really know what to make of at the moment.

"Are you okay, hun?" Lorelai says rubbing Rory's arm.

"Would it be too weird if I went to the Prom with my mother?"

Lorelai makes shock face. "Not if we buy the perfect shoes!"

The End


End file.
